Mayor & City Council

MINUTES Regular Meeting of the College Park City Council Tuesday, May 22, 2018 Council Chambers 7:30 p.m. – 10:09 p.m. PRESENT: Mayor Wojahn (arrived 7:40 p.m.); Councilmembers Kabir, Kennedy, Brennan, Dennis, Rigg, Kujawa and Mitchell. ABSENT: Councilmember Day. ALSO PRESENT: Scott Somers, City Manager; Bill Gardiner, Assistant City Manager; Janeen Miller, City Clerk; Suellen Ferguson, City Attorney; Bob Ryan, Director of Public Services; Gary Fields, Director of Finance; Bob Stumpff, Director of Public Works; Robert Marsili, Assistant Director of Public Works; Jill Clements, Director of Human Resources; Peggy Higgins, Director of Youth, Family and Senior Services; Chris Keosian, Student Liaison; Julianne Heberlein, Deputy Student Liaison. Mayor Pro Tem Dennis opened the Regular Meeting at 7:30 p.m. ANNOUNCEMENTS: Councilmember Kabir announced a community meeting on May 23 about the dog park and the Hollywood community clean-up on Saturday. Councilmember Kennedy discussed last week’s opening of the Hollywood Farmers Market. Councilmember Rigg announced a clean-up of the Sentinel Swamp on June 3. Councilmember Kujawa announced the College Park Woods Neighborhood Watch picnic. Councilmember Dennis announced the Coffee Club. CITY MANAGER’S REPORT: Mr. Somers reviewed the red-folder items and highlights from the weekly bulletin: Memorial Day schedule and observance; free summer parking incentive; Father’s Day Ice Cream Social; meeting on the Greenbelt Road Corridor improvements. AMENDMENTS TO AND APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA: A motion was made to move 18-G-77 to Consent (Kujawa/Rigg 7-0-0); Councilmember Mitchell moved 18-G-81 to Action; agenda approved as amended (Dennis/Kabir) 7-0-0. PRESENTATIONS: Mayor Wojahn presented plaques and stipends to outgoing Student Liaison Chris Keosian and Deputy Student Liaison Julianne Heberlein. Mayor Wojahn presented certificates to the outstanding essayists in the MML “If I Were Mayor, I Would…” essay contest: Fahey James, Holy Redeemer; Sarah Collins, Holy Redeemer; Alusine Fadiga, Al-Huda; Fahima Shaikh, Al-Huda; Jawad Hejazi, Al-Huda; Iain Knighton, College Park City Council Meeting Minutes May 22, 2018 Page 2 Paint Branch; Yailiana Zelaya, Paint Branch; Autumn Grimes, Hollywood; Seneca Oehrle, Friends Community School. The 4th grade students read their winning essays. PUBLIC HEARINGS A. Ordinance 18-O-04, An Ordinance Of The Mayor And Council Of The City Of College Park Authorizing The Acquisition Of Certain Property Located At 9814 47th Place, College Park, Maryland, For A Public Purpose (Hollywood Gateway Park): Mayor Wojahn invited public comment on this ordinance. Mary King, resident: The timing of this ordinance seems odd; they have already received bids to build the park. The pavilion costs about the same as a house. She would like to see a model of the park. A nice brick welcome sign would be adequate. B. Ordinance 18-O-05, an Ordinance to Authorize Maintenance of Naturalized or Native Managed Landscapes: Bob Ryan said this ordinance is in response to a growing trend toward natural yards and makes the Code more flexible to allow residents to manage and cultivate different types of plants in their yards if they prefer not to have turf grass. Yards that are planted with turf grass still must be maintained at 12” or less. In preparing this ordinance, they met with the Tree and Landscape Board for guidance. The Code still prohibits any type of infestation. Landscapes must not be allowed to spill over to neighbors’ yards. Mary King, resident: She is ambivalent about the ordinance. You have to be careful; native plants grow tall and fast. It would be disturbing if this allows people to let their yards go unattended. CONSENT AGENDA: A motion was made by Councilmember Mitchell and seconded by Councilmember Kujawa to adopt the Consent Agenda, which consisted of: 18-G-74 Award of a contract to Hertrich Ford in the amount of $37,578.00 to purchase a 2018 Ford F350 Lift Gate crew cab & chassis pickup truck; and award of a contract to Old Dominion Brush Co., Inc., in the amount of $132,039.00 to purchase two ODB Model SCL800TM25 Self Contained Leaf Collector units; and authorize the City Manager to sign the appropriate purchase orders – Robert Marsili, Assistant Director of Public Works 18-R-05 Resolution Of The Mayor And Council Of The City Of College Park Adopting The Recommendation Of The Advisory Planning Commission Regarding Variance Application Number CPV-2018-02, 9111 49th Place, College Park, Maryland, Recommending Approval Of A Variance Up To 11% From The Prince George’s County Zoning Ordinance Sec. 27-442 (C) Table II, Which Prescribes A Maximum Lot Coverage Of 30 Percent In The R-55 Zone, In College Park City Council Meeting Minutes May 22, 2018 Page 3 Order To Construct A Roof Over An Existing Front Porch And Validate Existing Lot Coverage 18-R-06 Resolution Of The Mayor And Council Of The City Of College Park Adopting The Recommendation Of The Advisory Planning Commission Regarding Variance Application Number CPV-2018-03, 7007 Wake Forest Drive, College Park, Maryland, Recommending Approval To Validate A 1-Foot Side Yard Setback Variance And A 13-Foot Street Side Yard Setback Variance From The Prince George’s County Zoning Ordinance Sec. 27-442 (E) Table IV, Which Prescribes A Minimum Street Side Yard Setback Of 25 Feet And A Side Yard Setback Of 8 Feet In The R-55 Zone In Order To Construct An Addition. 18-G-75 Approval of General Agreement of Terms for Joint Development of 4500 Knox Road, College Park, MD between City of College Park and the University of Maryland concerning the development of the City Hall project. 18-G-77 Approval of a letter to Dannielle Glaros regarding CB-12-2018 proposed business recycling legislation, Solid Waste Disposal – Commercial Recycling and Food Scrap Composting 18-G-78 Approve waiver of cat adoption fees for the month of July, and of microchip fees for designated microchip clinics 18-G-79 Approval of participation in the Humane Society of the United States “Wild Neighbors Pledge” 18-G-80 Approval of Minutes from the April 10, 2018 Regular Meeting; April 17, 2018 Special Session; April 17, 2018 Worksession; and April 24, 2018 Regular Meeting. The motion carried 7-0-0. ACTION ITEMS: 18-G-81 Approval of changes to Annual Leave, Sick Leave, and Tier II Sick Leave personnel policies Mr. Somers said the primary objective is to mitigate large payouts of sick leave and/or annual leave when an employee separates or retires. Councilmember Mitchell asked about the deadline to use accumulated leave. Ms. Clements said the new policy is effective in July and they are giving staff until October 1 to use the leave they would otherwise lose. She said there are 26 employees that have to use leave before October 1. Councilmember Kabir asked about other jurisdictions. Ms. Clements said we have information from 15 municipalities in the region. Many have a cap of 240 hours; ours is 320 hours. College Park City Council Meeting Minutes May 22, 2018 Page 4 A motion was made by Councilmember Kennedy and seconded by Councilmember Brennan to approve recommended changes to Annual Leave, Sick Leave, and Tier II Sick Leave personnel policies as outlined in the document. Comments from the audience: Mary King, resident: Asked about the savings to the budget. Mr. Fields said it is impossible to say right now what the impact will be, but the payouts are budgeted. Mr. Somers said an employee who accumulates the maximum could be paid out for 1,500 hours. Ms. Clements said these hours are accumulated over many years, so they may be earned at a lower rate than the rate at which they are paid out. Councilmember Rigg supports City staff but was aghast at the generosity of the City’s benefits. This seems like a common-sense approach. Councilmember Brennan said when we entered into the Maryland State Retirement Plan, we didn’t look at our retirement package holistically, which is why we have this policy which now seems excessive. It is important to make strategic changes to remain competitive and attractive to potential employees. The motion passed 7-0-0. 18-O-03 Adoption of Ordinance 18-O-03, An Ordinance Of The Mayor And Council Of The City Of College Park To Adopt The Fiscal Year 2019 General Fund, Capital Projects Fund And Debt Service Fund Budgets Of The City Of College Park A motion was made by Councilmember Brennan and seconded by Councilmember Rigg to adopt Ordinance 18-O-03, An Ordinance Of The Mayor And Council Of The City Of College Park To Adopt The Fiscal Year 2019 General Fund, Capital Projects Fund And Debt Service Fund Budgets Of The City Of College Park. There were no comments from the Council. The motion passed 7-0-0. 18-G-58 Discussion, and selection of an option, for the Hollywood Gateway Park project – Terry Schum, Director of Planning Ms. Schum said when we last met a month ago, she reported that the 9 construction bids we received for the Hollywood Gateway project all exceeded the budget estimates. Council directed staff to work with the recommended low bidder to see if additional cost savings could be found while still proceeding with construction of the park this season. Having done that, there are now two options to move forward with construction of the park. College Park City Council Meeting Minutes May 22, 2018 Page 5 • Option 1 – completely eliminate the steel pavilion, which would save $387K as designed. This would involve minor redesign to accommodate for loss of pavilion and there would be little visibility from the intersection. • Option 2 – redesign the pavilion to retain its original flavor and intention, but have it simplified and shortened so the form is less dramatic, and make other minor revisions to the park itself. This would involve some redesign cost, some delay, and a permit revision, but we think we could still work on the park this season. She has been working with the lowest qualified bidder, McDonnell Landscape, who has made several recommendations to lower the costs. The preliminary estimate with a 10-11% reduction in cost is $872,100. We won’t know for sure until we actually award the bid. Ms. Schum said it is hard to go any further with value engineering now because we haven’t awarded the bid. If you want to proceed with the project now, staff recommends you award the contract to McDonnell Landscape, which will allow staff to continue to work with them to further reduce the cost of the project. She said the original construction estimate from our consultant was low, but we do have funding in the CIP to do this project through Program Open Space and the City’s match, so funding is not the issue. Staff now needs clear direction from the Council; we have gone as far as we can go. Council discussed the pros and cons of removing various elements of the original park design and the community’s interest in the park design and the gateway features. Councilmember Brennan reminded Council that they had already de-scoped the project. Ms. Schum discussed the difference between de-scoping and value engineering. Mr. Somers said with the new construction bids, the costs are becoming more fine-tuned. The costs from a year ago were just estimates from a landscape architect. If this is something the community values and you want this gateway feature, there probably won’t be any additional reduction in cost. To delay the pavilion at this point is not practical. The original all-in cost estimate was $1.3M, which included property acquisition, demolition of the house, the soft costs and construction. The difference now is about $200-$225K for a total all-in cost of about $1.5M. If you want to move forward, you need to move forward. He thinks a delay would cost the City more in the long run. Ms. Schum said it is not necessary to take money from other projects to fund this project if we use current Program Open Space funds. The bids are good until the end of July. This item will return on the June 5 Worksession as a possible Special Session. Staff was directed to invite the consultant, provide renderings of each option from various viewpoints, and provide clearly itemized cost savings options. 18-O-04 Adoption of Ordinance 18-O-04, An Ordinance Of The Mayor And Council Of The City Of College Park Authorizing The Acquisition Of Certain Property Located At 9814 47th Place, College Park, Maryland, For A Public Purpose (Hollywood Gateway Park) College Park City Council Meeting Minutes May 22, 2018 Page 6 A motion was made by Councilmember Kabir and seconded by Councilmember Kennedy to adopt Ordinance 18-O-04 to approve the acquisition of certain property located at 9814 47th Place, College Park, Maryland, for a public purpose. Councilmember Rigg asked if we are getting ahead of ourselves, since we haven’t decided on the design of the park yet. Council explained that this property acquisition provides ADA accessibility to the parcel that we already own, which is needed for the park in any scenario. The motion passed 7-0-0. 18-O-05 Adoption of 18-O-05, an Ordinance to Authorize Maintenance of Naturalized or Native Managed Landscapes A motion was made by Councilmember Rigg and seconded by Councilmember Brennan to adopt Ordinance 18-O-05, An Ordinance Of The Mayor And Council Of The City Of College Park, Maryland, Amending Chapter 125 “Housing Regulations” By Repealing And Reenacting Article I, §125-1, “Definitions” And §125-8, “Responsibilities Of Owners And Occupants”; And Chapter 157, “Property Maintenance”, Article §157-2, “Definitions; Word Usage” And §157-5 “Responsibilities Of Owners And Occupants” To Authorize Maintenance Of Naturalized Or Native Managed Landscapes. Councilmember Rigg said this does not create a means for people to not maintain their property. If we find there are unintended consequences, we can revisit the matter. It is the intention of the Council that these properties will be the product of careful cultivation and not of neglect. Councilmember Brennan said that property maintenance issues will still be addressed through code enforcement and that these landscapes can contribute to biodiversity and the natural environment. Mayor Wojahn said pollinator habitats can seem like an oasis and that with these changes the code provides the necessary flexibility for our residents. The motion passed 7-0-0. COUNCIL COMMENTS: Mayor Wojahn announced the passing of long-serving New Carrollton Mayor Andrew Hanko. ADJOURN: A motion was made by Councilmember Kujawa and seconded by Councilmember Rigg to adjourn the Regular Meeting, and with a vote of 7-0-0, Mayor Wojahn adjourned the meeting at 10:09 p.m. ___________________________________________ Janeen S. Miller, CMC Date City Clerk Approved